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Old 06-21-21, 12:15 PM   #61
Threadfin
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I hope you were Japan


One more question, what are the relative experience levels of you and your opponent with this game?


I'm pulling for the Americans in this one. And I'd watch out, I bet he has designs on invading the west coast of the US. You need your own Midway, a pivotal victory that puts him on the back foot.
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Old 06-21-21, 12:38 PM   #62
Molon Labe
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I hope you were Japan


One more question, what are the relative experience levels of you and your opponent with this game?


I'm pulling for the Americans in this one. And I'd watch out, I bet he has designs on invading the west coast of the US. You need your own Midway, a pivotal victory that puts him on the back foot.
Yes, I was Japan.

This is my first campaign against a human opponent. I've played one Allied and two Japanese campaigns against AI.
I'm not entirely sure how experienced he is. I just know it's not his first. And he has surprised me a few times already.

I'm probably not going to look to take on the KB until after I replace the Wildcats with Corsairs or Hellcats. I still have 1 CV with Buffalos, waiting for Wildcats, as it stands. And his pilots are better. I don't even have USN training squadrons filling out my reserves with trained pilots, so any pilot I lose is replaced with someone right out of basic flight, or not at all.

As of tomorrow, the carrier balance will be:
Japan: 6 fleet carriers, 2 CVL, 2 CVE
US: 4 fleet carriers
UK: 1 CVL
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Old 06-22-21, 10:01 AM   #63
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29 December 41
IJN disengaging in DEI

Dutch East Indies

A Dutch sub torpedoed a troop transport off Manado, 50/50 it goes down.

The big news is that the CVLBG is leaving--after finishing off my evac task force yesterday, it moved north through the Moluccas and turned east towards Truk. It's due for replenishment and refueling, plus one of those CVLs ate a torpedo awhile back. With how little activity is going on in the DEI, it might not be coming back. If the KB stays tied to Hawaii, it might want to try to disrupt my supply chain and bases in SouthPac.

It's not just the CVLBG that's gone, too. The ports at Ambon, Manado, and Ternate are mostly empty. A surface group left with the CVLBG. Except for one surface group still near the Moluccas, it doesn't appear that there are any surface threats east for Borneo, and the only air threats are fragments of Betty squadrons with no torpedo support.

West of Borneo, as Force Y pulled back from its raid, a heavy-cruiser escorted group invaded Billiton. One transport hit a mine. These guys have now advanced far south enough that my land based bombers are in range. They've had a few weeks to train--I wouldn't call them proficient just yet, but hopefully they aren't as useless as when the war started and their CVLs just parked off Surabaya and laughed at us.

What I presume to be the invasion forces scout planes snooped one of my troop convoys heading north near Palembang. This has the potential to be devastating. In hindsight maybe I should have ordered them to turn around, but I didn't. I split them into two groups based on speed and ordered them to sprint to Singapore. I think if they make it, they could tip the balance and let Singapore hold out until they allocate at least another division. So, they're scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Possibly, while under air attack.

The Ceres continues to limp to port from its torpedo damage. I don't think she's going to make it.

Oh, that reminds me. It's of little consequence, but the HMS Thanet is about to arrive in Surabaya. This little DD might be the luckiest ship afloat. Part of a group of 3 DD, it survived the air raids in Hong Kong, escaped the surface groups patrolling for Hong Kong evacuees, avoided the covering forces around Luzon, and got caught up in the rout in the Celebes Sea, where it came face to face with the Ise and Hyuga (Ise took a torpedo hit in this fight, so it's possible that if the Ise really did sink, maybe the Thanet was responsible), which sank one of its sister ships, and later the Soryu battlegroup, which sank the other sister ship. After disengaging from Soryu it was attacked by its Kates, evading their bombs in the morning only to take a critical hit in the afternoon, inflicting 88% flooding damage. That sinks most ships--the damage control teams need to get medals. It's been limping to Surabaya ever since at like 5 knots, and somehow, none of the surface groups, subs, or betties prowling the Celebes Sea or Makassar Strait ever found her. DC teams brought the flooding down to 62% enroute.

Malaya
My one dedicated recon aircraft is earning his paycheck. We've confirmed at least a Division is still up at Kota Baru. But Kuantan has only a few thousand troops, and it looks like mostly engineers.

I attacked his forces blocking the road outside Johore, but he got additional forces there in time to prevent me from having local superiority. It probably didn't help that I couldn't keep his bombers away, either. So, the road is theirs. I'm going to have my boys head back north to Malacca and then decide whether these troops are better used to keep him from putting his full force into Singapore or going after a vulnerable-looking Kuantan.

The air campaign favored me today, I traded one Buffalo for an Oscar and three Sallies.

Philippines
He bombed and sank an AKL waiting to take on evacuees from Cagayan. Looks like he's onto me. But, barring unforseen events, the majority of the Cagayan base forces are going to get out. The base force mostly lost yesterday was from Cebu, but trailing elements from them are also still evacuating--which means I might end up with enough to rebuild the unit from.

His air forces mostly took the day off with no raids in the north. By B-17s hit some units in the open headed towards Clark and Manila. I also probed his Clark forces and found that he pulled a Napoleon and moved a lot of them to Manila to get local superiority. Right now it appears its just the 65th Brigade in Clark, plus a few engineers.

China
The AVG suffered its first two losses of the war as Changsha was swept by Tojos. Most of the CAP here was focused on protecting frontline troops instead of the base itself, so we were outnumbered. Fortunately both pilots bailed out without injuries. EDIT: HA! I completely forgot about the Zero raid about a week ago that shot down a handful of AVG fighters!

We pursued the routing armies from Sinyang to the gates of Hangkow and dealt them another defeat in the open before they escaped into the city. I had been bombing Hangkow to use the BDA as a kind of recon, and it actually looks like I can take it. But, it's heavy urban terrain and probably well-fortified. I'm going to take my pound of flesh here and go home.

Thanks to this small victory, I actually gained VP on my enemy this turn, for the first time in the campaign.

In the south, the army that took Chaochow is now closing on on Swatow, and its size 3 airfield and port. Recon shows I have him outnumbered, and most of those troops are the broken troops I defeated a few days ago. My next move would be Amoy, but I expect I'll find more resistance there.

SouthPac
I think awhile back I mentioned a CL poking around Fiji (at about the same time as the CL at Pago if I didn't). Well, it's still there. And the task force is growing as it sits there, last reported as 2 CL + 3 other ships, also a sub hanging out to his west. If he's looking for a fight I might just give him one. Maybe after we make sure I'm not walking into battleships again like in Celebes, though. That sucked.

SigInt reports enemy activity just north of the scouting range of our PBYs at Pago. I wish I could say I have enough troops at Pago to hold it. But with 5 divisions deployed to the north I'm sure he had some to spare.

The supply situation here is starting to suck, thanks in no small part to Pearl being surrounded and enemy SAGs hanging out around Pago and Fiji, and of course, the capture of Canton Island.

West Coast
Yorktown has arrived and is now forming up with escorts. Lexington is about to complete repairs of its engineering casualty ahead of schedule--great timing. I've also got enough DDs available, and enough transports arriving after evacuating from all over the place, that I can start putting more troop convoys to sea to reinforce SouthPac and/or Australia.

Arizona and Nevada (the BBs damaged in the original 12/7 attacks that were the most seaworthy) have arrived in Seattle for repairs. Moving them was a bit risky because most Japanese players will try to finish them off with subs, but these guys had a quiet transit. But it takes pressure off the overburdened shipyards at Pearl, and fortuitously, out of the danger zone I had no idea PH was when I ordered these two to move out.

Speaking of PH, thunderstorms tomorrow. I'll just leave it at that.
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Old 06-22-21, 10:54 AM   #64
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About the HMS Thanet, it's confirmed. It's the ship that scored the last torpedo hit on the Ise, which was probably the last significant damage. It was bombed by a B-17 while it was getting patched up, but I don't think the bomb did that much damage due to the ship's armor.

I'm going to do something out of character and ask my opponent about the fate of this ship.
*
*
*
He says the Ise is safely in Japan for repairs. Damn.
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Old 06-23-21, 01:27 PM   #65
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30 December 1941
PTs strike again, 65th Brigade routed, Singapore reinforced

CENTPAC
I used the expected thunderstorms to cover the escape of several tenders from Pearl. Surprisingly, it worked, even though they're pretty slow. Night storms are the best. I also tried to evac a key engineer unit. The enemy took notice of this, though, and launched an airstrike while they were loading. I lost an AK and had an AP shot up, a P-40 went down trying to hold them off. Japan lost two Zeroes and 4 Vals.

My PTs tried to attack at Lihue again, as all the heavies seem to be east. But they chickened out and turned around.

Japan now controls all of Hawaii except for Oahu.

SOUTHPAC and Solomons area
The feared invasion of Pago has not yet materialized. At this time all surface contacts are at or near captured bases.

The enemy SAG remains in position at Fiji, still nothing reported as larger than a CL. Fiji's supply situation is getting bad.

Landings have commenced on the northern shores of Papua New Guinea. My bombers apparently don't feel like doing anything about it. Bad weather? I am disappointed.

Dutch East Indies
Maybe they're not withdrawing everything after all. Two SAGs are in the area, one by Manado and another that looks like it's going to take a run at my bomber base in Kendari. Please, bombard it! There's a new minefield there waiting for you! That's also my PT refueling base for hitting Ambon, though, so hopefully my torpedoless-PTs can refuel and get out of there before the cruisers arrive.

Why torpedoless? Because they just raided Ambon and sank two transports filled with troops! Good job guys, now stay alive and do it again.

The CVLBG is approaching Palau, it might even be headed for Japan. I've got 2 subs in position at Palau to attempt a night intercept.

My bombers didn't attack Billiton. Not sure if it was bad weather or they just needed time to organize after rebasing. Again, disappointed.

Philippines
I made him pay a price for dividing his forces between Manila and Clark, driving out the 65th Brigade from Clark. Casualties were about 2500 to 900 in our favor, but I'm concerned about the supply situation in terms of not being able to repair/heal disabled units. I'll be assigning some Asiatic fleet boats to transport duty to try to help them hold on. Some portion of the force at Manila is now moving to Clark. My forces that retreated from Manila are now reorganized and resupplied, I'm moving them into the hills to threaten to re-engage Manila or cut off a road and base that's probably supplying them.

In the air, it was my turn to take a beating. Oscars took down 6 P-40s and 2 P-35s with only one loss. The absence of Zeroes is noted. The may be confident the Oscars are enough and distributing the Zeroes elsewhere... Rabaul, maybe.

He sent nearly 90 bombers after an army unit in the central area that has no hope of being evacuated. Probably softening them up for an invasion.

USS Pike torpedoed a troop transport north of Luzon. I expected everyone that's coming ashore to be ashore already, so this is interesting. Who are these mystery reinforcements?



Malaya
An odd choice for my opponent--he raided the airfields and port at Singapore but not the troop transports about to dock there. That raid traded an Oscar and a Sally for a Buffalo, a Blenheim blown up on the ground, and hits on the Repulse and a couple other ships under repair. Now my transports will be unloading while the bombers sleep, who knows maybe they'll even be gone by morning. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but reinforcing Singapore twice now probably means he doesn't have enough there to do the job.

Hurricanes have also arrived to start replacing the craptacular Buffalos. The top-performing New Zealand squadron is getting the first batch.

Air raids against my forces withdrawing from the Johore road did significant damage at the cost of 1 Oscar.

Georgetown was captured. 1 bomber was destroyed on the ground that I was trying to move up to Rangoon to rejoin the rest of its unit. They're trying to aid the retreat of the small unit I allowed to be surrounded.

Elsewhere
-USS Sargo made a gun attack on an AKL that it abandoned after running low on ammo. Really sad that we can't even sink little guys like this.
-My army fighting in the Chinese riverlands has been outmanuevered. It isn't strong enough to take down the army I sent it after (especially because they can get bombers here, but I can't), and another enemy unit appeared behind it. The only retreat is through them.
-Most of the Indian Ocean evacuees are safely in off-map bases and are available for forming supply convoys to India, Sri Lanka, and Australia.
-I'm starting to get together convoys from the west coast as well, but I'm being hampered by lack of availability of decent-speed ships. I'm absolutely shocked that the only west coast transports interdicted by subs have been those going to PH before it was encircled. This party can't last, so I'm reluctant to get lacksadaisical about moving supplies out here, and especially troops.
-I don't know why I was happy that the Lex will be repaired early. I still don't have enough Wildcats to fill out her air wing. It didn't help that the Yorktown arrived about 10 planes short.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:13 AM   #66
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Grim. Hang in there mate.

Is there any offensive action you've been thinking of that could put your opponent off balance? Or is a fighting withdrawal the only real option at this point?

You need your subs to start getting in and hurting his ability support all of these far-flung occupations, if that's a thing. But you have neither the numbers or I guess reliable torpedoes to get this done.

I'm interested in the submarine side of this. Are you choosing where they patrol? If so where are you sending them? As you surely know (I can tell from your posts you are well-versed in the Pacific war), dull-minded leaders such as Christie and English wasted many patrols by placing them at route terminuses, terminii, err, at the place they dock. lol

But experience, hindsight and sharper brains of course showed that there were several chokepoints that could have proved far more profitable in interdicting the merchant traffic of the Japanese while allowing the sea room needed to be effective, and out from under the most intense enemy ASW. It's tempting to put boats outside Rabaul or Truk I would imagine, but they may prove more effective say in Makassar or Luzon straits. Could a concentration of available submarine striking power in very few places make a difference and maybe make him reign in his audacity?

Maybe if you get the time and want to hit on how you approach the submarine war, I'd be interested in how it works mechanically and from a tactical or strategic point of view. But I know how much work it is just producing the reports, so no obligation of course. Things should hopefully be brighter for 1942, as more boats come to the theatre, and their effectiveness improves due to technical advances (radar, improved torpedoes, depth capability, tubes, capacity, etc). Not sure how deeply this is modeled, but I'd expect that your boats will become more effective, all else being equal.

Good AAR, mate. Keep it up.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:17 AM   #67
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I should also ask if he is a member here and reading this AAR? If so I could understand a reluctance to share your plans.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:25 AM   #68
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31 December 1941
Enemy Air Strikes In Singapore Come Too Late

Malaya
My reinforcements were nearly fully disembarked when the strike came. Japanese bombers flew 60 sorties against Singapore harbor. We lost two Buffalos defending the harbor and claimed three Nell bombers. Three mostly empty transports were torpedoed, but they're big ones and they should survive as long as they don't get hit again.

My opponent emailed me to criticize this move, said it was too risky because these transports are too valuable. I mentioned I had second thoughts in my prior post, but I think I made the right move here. Yes, losing the transports would hurt, but I had a chance to turn the balance of the Malaya campaign by landing these guys. And at least for now, on paper, it looks like it worked. My defense at Singapore is truly formidable now, at least two divisions strong with a **** ton of artillery and AA support. Factor in that he needs to attack fortifications over a river, naval bombardment support is chancey because I have a ton of mines and coastal defense artillery, and his bombers can't consistently attack from low altitude because I have a lot of AA, and his (probably) three divisions have their work cut out for them. I needed to make him pay a price for putting 5 divisions in Hawaii, this move might have accomplished that.


Dutch East Indies
A cruiser-destroyer group went hunting for my PTs in eastern Borneo, but they escaped.

The expected strike against Kendari hasn't happened yet, but they're lining up three task forces. Looks like phibs, a covering force, and a bombardment group. We launched an airstrike with level bombers but missed.

My strikes against Billiton launched, the ships were gone so the bombers hit the troops they landed, causing light casualties. Falcon light bombers also tried to hit ships at Miri but missed.

I have lost track of the CVLBG. If it doesn't show up in a day or two that probably means it went back to Japan.

Philippines
Major raid on Clark. We lost a P-40 and two P-35s but got 2 Sallies, 3 Lillies, and an Ann. The bombers dropped from too high to be effective.

Elsewhere
The KB is giving me a little bit of a scare. My recon aircraft around PH are getting thinned out and my coverage is spotty. We actually didn't confirm the continued presence of the KB around Hawaii this turn. There is a whole of of shipping traffic heading south around Hawaii that he might try to interdict. I think it's still at Hawaii, though, he has so many ships there that I don't see him sacrificing fighter coverage for them just to get some transports. All the same, the convoys that are most at risk have been ordered to adjust course. Plan for what he can do, not for what he would do, and all that.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:30 AM   #69
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Yep exactly, command according to capability, not intentions. It's good to see some successes! A redoubt in malaya is a thorn he could do without.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:45 AM   #70
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Originally Posted by Threadfin View Post
Grim. Hang in there mate.

Is there any offensive action you've been thinking of that could put your opponent off balance? Or is a fighting withdrawal the only real option at this point?

You need your subs to start getting in and hurting his ability support all of these far-flung occupations, if that's a thing. But you have neither the numbers or I guess reliable torpedoes to get this done.

I'm interested in the submarine side of this. Are you choosing where they patrol? If so where are you sending them? As you surely know (I can tell from your posts you are well-versed in the Pacific war), dull-minded leaders such as Christie and English wasted many patrols by placing them at route terminuses, terminii, err, at the place they dock. lol

But experience, hindsight and sharper brains of course showed that there were several chokepoints that could have proved far more profitable in interdicting the merchant traffic of the Japanese while allowing the sea room needed to be effective, and out from under the most intense enemy ASW. It's tempting to put boats outside Rabaul or Truk I would imagine, but they may prove more effective say in Makassar or Luzon straits. Could a concentration of available submarine striking power in very few places make a difference and maybe make him reign in his audacity?

Maybe if you get the time and want to hit on how you approach the submarine war, I'd be interested in how it works mechanically and from a tactical or strategic point of view. But I know how much work it is just producing the reports, so no obligation of course. Things should hopefully be brighter for 1942, as more boats come to the theatre, and their effectiveness improves due to technical advances (radar, improved torpedoes, depth capability, tubes, capacity, etc). Not sure how deeply this is modeled, but I'd expect that your boats will become more effective, all else being equal.

Good AAR, mate. Keep it up.
I've looked around to try to find a username for him here, as far as I know he's not here. But, I've been googling random naval stuff before and been directed to subsim threads. So, OPSEC is something I have to think about when posting here. You'll notice I have a lot more to say about what's already happened than about what happens next.

Right now I'm looking at the potential for limited counteroffensives in the DEI and SouthPac areas. I've appeared to have the stronger fleet in SouthPac for awhile. In DEI, even with three task forces operating near Kendari, it looks like his Optempo has caught up with him and a lot of surface forces have had to pull back for refuel/rearm/maintenance. But, with that reduction in forces, he's being more methodical. I wouldn't attack those three task forces off Kendari with what I have there now, too much strength in a small place. In SouthPAC, the big question is airpower. Rabaul is going to be a problem soon, if it's not already. The KB isn't far from there. The CVLBG might be headed there. And the way he has cruisers just sitting off Fiji waving at our scoutplanes is just weird and unsettling. It really looks like he's trying to bait me.

Right now the Dutch sub fleet are focused on choke points in the DEI. US Asiatic fleet boats are mostly tasked to shipping lanes from the Luzon area to the southern/western part of Japan. US West coast boats are mostly sitting off Japan or major hubs like Truk and Rabaul. I think he's figured out most of my patrol areas and has adjusted, I'm starting to open up a little to try to find the traffic. The sub mission is still mostly anti-troop transport at this point, he's conquered so little of the resource areas there isn't going to be a whole lot of fuel/resource convoys to interdict.

EDIT: about the sub's capabilities. All torps have a dud rate, but the US torps are especially bad until sometime in 1943. So that is modeled. Also, just about every ship has an upgrade schedule. That includes things like radar, so yes, they're going to get more effective over time. Speaking of which, it's almost January, I should look at the upgrade schedule and see who's due.

EDIT 2: here's an example of a scheduled upgrade. This one improves the subs AA guns and puts some radars on it.
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Old 06-24-21, 12:00 PM   #71
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Thanks a lot for the info. It's all very interesting, in a vicarious sort of way.

It makes me want to play it honestly. I'm deeply interested in the Pacific war, and in these sorts of game. WitE had no naval component at all, which among other things allowed me to bypass and isolate Sevastopol, which I would not have done had it been a naval base.

But in the Pacific this is centrally improtant of course, and the notion of controlling it all according to what I think should be done is appealing. Having a human opponent just makes it all the more interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience Molon Labe.
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Old 06-25-21, 09:45 AM   #72
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1 January 1942
Japan lands on Kendari

Dutch East Indies
The attack on Kendari finally came. 8 transports plowed through the minefield. One took two hits and sank. One of my PT squads ran into their covering force and was driven off. Casualties from losing the AK to a mine were bad, but he still landed at least a regiment. It's enough.

Near Surabaya, a damaged cargo ship that had been sheltering at Balikpapan but was moving to Surabaya for "real" repairs was picked off by a sub.

He moved some Oscars to protect Billiton from my air raids with a long-range CAP. And Murphy showed up and made sure my escorting fighters got separated from their bombers. I lost two medium bombers and 3 Swordfish torpedo bombers.

The CVLBG is still gone. It might be replenishing at Palau, headed for the Solomons, or returning to Japan. If its the Solomons, I'll probably reacquire it in another day, maybe two.

Philippines
The S-36 sank two cargo ships in the Luzon strait, a Kyushu class and a C-class. Way to show up the more modern boats! It helps that its Mk10 torpedoes work. The Kyushus in particular are valuable, they're 18-knot boats that are great for moving armies around.

Air raids on Clark claimed a P-35 but cost him a light bomber and 2 mediums. He's still bombing from too high to hit anything in these hills. His main force has moved from Manila to Clark and is ready to attack. As expected, he left behind enough in Manila to stop my isolated units from retaking it.

I mixed things up a bit by sending my B-17s back to Cam Rahn Bay to bomb the port, but the raid was ineffective. I'm sad to report that all of my fighter squadrons here have taken such heavy losses that they're essentially combat ineffective. He's basically won the air campaign and will enjoy air superiority going forward.

Malaya
He hit the retreating transports again with Nells and did better today. We lost 2 Buffalos and claimed 3 Nells. But the Nells got 3 hits on the transport Leonard Wood, sinking it. They also got a minesweeper on ASW patrol and hit the drydocked Repulse with a pair of bombs.

His army (Imperial Guards Division and 18th Division) attacked my units as they withdrew from the Johore road. They didn't cause a rout, but thanks to their air support they inflicted much more severe casualties than they took.

I've replaced another Buffalo squadron with Hurricanes. The first conversion should get their first taste of combat tomorrow.

SouthPac
The enemy SAG sitting south of Suva decided to attack and bombarded the base. The base reports the enemy composition is 2 CL and 1 DD. Yeah, I can take them, just not this turn. The bombardment damaged 2 scout planes and did minor facility damage. Frustratingly, it appears this group has left the area. I had just positioned some cruisers for an attack overnight. Maybe it's still there and my scoutplanes missed it. Or its withdrawing towards the Solomons. It could even be headed to Pago.

CENTPAC
My patrol aircraft continue to suffer attrition from enemy CAPs. They're pretty badly degraded now. But not so badly degraded that I wasn't able to confirm that the KB was still there. And also not so degraded that I missed this:


Is that really a CVE off to the east? Probably not. (EDIT: The CVE Taiyo is NOT known to be part of the CVLBG, so this could be her) But if it's a scoutplane-carrying cruiser, that's not much better. The only thing to the southeast is my shipping lane to SouthPac. Traffic there is a lot thinner than it was a few days ago, but there is at least one convoy there that I'd really rather not get sunk.

China
My southern army trying to take lightly-guarded bases ran into an unexpected surprise: level 4 forts at Swatow. So even though I outnumber them significantly, and a lot of those troops are broken from a recent defeat, I'd need more troops to take this--combat engineers in particular. Oh well.


Guam
Added this as an afterthought. He's been bombing Guam pretty consistently with Nells/Betties and Kates from probably the Soryu. Today it was just Nells. Soryu may be on the move.
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Old 06-25-21, 11:39 AM   #73
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When I was posting yesterday I thought about the Mark 10s and wondered if your S-boats had them or if other fleet boats might be sailing with them or mixed loads.


And good to see your S-boats aren't just running aground all over the place haha. Two sinkings is good, and that's the place I'd be sending them too. I hope one of your boats can pick off a CV. We need more good news from the war front
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Old 06-25-21, 02:48 PM   #74
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Originally Posted by Threadfin View Post
When I was posting yesterday I thought about the Mark 10s and wondered if your S-boats had them or if other fleet boats might be sailing with them or mixed loads.


And good to see your S-boats aren't just running aground all over the place haha. Two sinkings is good, and that's the place I'd be sending them too. I hope one of your boats can pick off a CV. We need more good news from the war front
I gave the S-boats the high-priority tasks in the expected Luzon landing areas right from the beginning because of this.

I can't control loadouts except for torpedo bombers, so the rest of the fleet is stuck with the Mk14.
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Old 06-26-21, 01:11 AM   #75
Molon Labe
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2 January 1942
And you thought he was dangerous in a Buffalo...

Dutch East Indies
One of the PT squadrons trying to get out of Kendari got trapped between land and an approaching landing force, including a heavy cruiser. This squadron was already down to 3 boats, now it's just one. Kendari withstood the enemy's assault, but with reduced fortifications.

I have yet to reacquire the CVLBG.

Malaya
He sent over 100 bombers to hit my army units on the Johore Road. His army would later attack and turn their withdrawal into rout. They're trying to recover at Malacca now.

My first ace, G.L. Hesketh of the New Zealand No. 488 Squadron, had the honor of being the first to fly the Hurricane into combat in the Pacific theatre. The enemy showed up to bomb the airfield and port facilities at Singapore. Hesketh claimed two zeroes and two Sally bombers before his plane was damaged too badly to continue fighting. The only other victory was a Sally brought down by AA. Hesketh is now a double-ace with 11 kills. The raid bounced a few more bombs off the Repulse, which is apparently destined to live in drydock for the rest of the war.

Philippines
A sweep over Clark cost me a pair each of P-40s and P-35s. My B-17s went to Takao this time to bomb the port and once again were ineffective.

CENTPAC
A change in tactics for the enemy today--they sent in 2 minesweepers to try to clear a path to Pearl, and then bombarded the base with a battleship at long range. The minesweepers were shot to hell by coastal defense guns. But the battleship hurt, sending shrapnel into about two dozen planes all over Hickam Field and causing significant human casualties.

No sign yet of the maybe-Taiyo near my shipping lanes.


Burma
A sub-battalion sized unit took over Mergui, an empty base on the Thai-Burma border and the top of the Malayan peninsula.
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